(part builder)

This is my new 18ft. O.A. shoal draft sailing cruiser, designed by Maurice Redman. I had the bare hull built by Blanks Boat Yard Ltd., Herts., in October 1965 without the bilge keels being fitted. The hull construction is double chine type with 8 mahogany frames, the planking is Thames Marine Ply Makore 5/16” thick.

At the beginning of 1966 and throughout that year I was working most weekends on my new boat at Maldon under a leaky, draughty lean-to, but I was glad I had some kind of shelter, especially when the weather was bad. The fitting of the bilge keels to the hull proved rather more of a task than normal, The trouble was that those bilge keels did not fit the hull exactly, especially at the after-end of the hull, so I had to make wood fillets to the right size to fit in. The bilge keels are held to the hull by 5/16” x 5” bolts with nuts bolted right through the inside wood keel bearers. The cockpit was going to be the self-draining type but I decided against this method owing to the cockpit floor being too high, and also the uncomfortable sitting position for helmsman and crew. However, the cockpit floor is now almost on the level with the cabin floor; there is no bridge deck. I have installed a good bilge pump for the cockpit in case of emergency. The cabin construction is to Maurice Redman’s own particular design: the length of the cabin is 6 feet and it has two full length berths, good sitting headroom, and a separate W.C. compartment under the foredeck portside. The galley is situated on the starboard side at the aft end of the cabin. The rig is gunter; the mast, boom and yard are all made of solid Sitka spruce. The sail area is 169 sq. ft. The draft is 1ft 6in. - 1ft 9in., beam 6ft.

However, after working on Kittiwake for another 6 months, and with the final painting completed, it was time to launch her. I had plenty of helpers around in Hegecock Boat Yard. Kittiwake was launched on rollers down to the water, and towed to a mud berth. The following weekend, I had a week’s holiday due, and was looking forward to the first sail in her. I had to choose a fine sunny day as the sails were best Egyptian cotton: this did not arrive in time for my week’s holiday, but eventually a suitable day dawned. I felt rather apprehensive when I took the tiller for the first time in Kittiwake. There was a light wind from the northerly direction when we left Maldon. The sail to Mundon Creek proved uneventful because the wind fell away to a calm at Osea Island and I was kindly towed the rest of the way into Mundon Creek by my uncle’s motor boat. The sailing season was now drawing to a close, so I decided to have one or two trial sails in Kittiwake by myself. I found that she was rather tender, and particularly disconcerting was the tendency to heel sharply when the wind blew harder, rather than to accelerate. As designed, she has mild steel bilge keels, approximately 1 cwt. each. However, I came to the conclusion that she needed more ballast; there was no question of being over-canvassed. The problem of ballasting is where to put it. I think I have solved the problem by using ½” thick mild steel plate 5” deep by 6ft. long: these two plates are bolted on each bilge keel. It is a matter of trial and error when adding ballast to a boat, I think. The next problem is buoyancy, which is important. It is a matter of how much spare room there is under the berths and in the bows, and this has its limitations.

Well, I look forward to the 1968 sailing season with more confidence in Kittiwake than I had in 1967.